News

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller had choice words for Android on the eve of competitor Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy IV. “Android is often given as a free replacement for a feature phone and the experience isn’t as good as an iPhone,” Schiller said in an interview. He downplayed the competition, saying that four times as many iPhone users switched from Android than those who switched to Android in the fourth quarter. Schiller also said Android users often run old operating systems and don’t have the benefits of the cohesive experience that Apple offers. “When you take an Android device out of the box, you have to sign up to nine accounts with different vendors to get the experience iOS comes with,” he said. “They don’t work seamlessly together.” [via The Wall Street Journal]

A newly published patent application reveals Apple’s designs for a Smart Cover that uses inductive charging to wirelessly power an iPad. The protective cover described in the application could “wirelessly pass power to a corresponding inductive power receiver unit disposed within the tablet device” by coupling magnetic elements. It’s also noted that “useful power can be supplied directly to a tablet device by way of a protective cover that can be placed in close proximity to a surface of the tablet device.”

The protective cover could use a battery or inductive coils powered by an external supply. A Smart Cover battery would need to be charged normally, but other embodiments recognize the possibility for solar cells to gather power for inductive transfer. [via Apple Insider]

Apple CEO Tim Cook must sit for a deposition in the U.S. government’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple for alleged e-book price-fixing, according to a new report. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote granted a Justice Department request for Cook to testify for four hours. Apple had argued that Cook’s testimony would be “cumulative and duplicative” due to the depositions of 11 other Apple executives, but the Judge held that Cook should be made available for testimony, as there was no opportunity for live testimony from Apple’s late former CEO Steve Jobs. The lawsuit dates back to April, and initially targeted a number of publishers — Apple was the only publisher not to settle charges in the suit. A trial is currently set for June. Apple and other publishers settled an e-book EU antitrust investigation in September. [via Reuters]

Apple is updating its iOS Maps “often and significantly,” according to a new report. Flyover support was added to numerous cities in recent months, and other cities have seen flyover coverage and 3-D buildings expanded. Some city labels, satellite imagery in numerous countries, and location information have also been updated.

The map content was also recently updated in Japan, with toll road notifications, improved pronunciation during turn-by-turn navigation, updated icons and labels, and added 3-D buildings. Maps in China has a new coloring scheme, updated roads, re-prioritized locations, and a new character font for improved readability.

A full list of cities recently updated is included below. However, it’s notable that not all users might see the updates as of yet; for instance, Buffalo, NY supposedly now has flyover support, but the app doesn’t appear to show anything new. [via The Loop]

A patent granted to Apple today details a social networking system that can reliably identify friends, as well as “stalkers” and “spammers.” Under the system, a user with a relationship to another user can enter a “friend state.” However, rejections of friend requests increase a user’s “stalker count” — a user rejected a number of times within a specified time period will no longer be able to make a friend request to that same user. Likewise, a “spammer count” is created by limiting the number of friend requests one user can make within a specified time period, making it possible to prevent additional friend requests for the remainder of the time period. [via Apple Insider]

A judge has ruled that Apple must submit “a detailed account of how it collects and evaluates” documents in a recent privacy lawsuit, according to a report. Plaintiffs’ attorneys claim Apple has withheld documents it was required to produce in a lawsuit that alleges Apple collected data from mobile devices without permission. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal wrote that Apple “had provided more than enough evidence itself to suggest to the court that it has not fully complied with the court’s order.” The report notes the judge’s orders are forcing Apple to “reveal inner workings that the company normally goes to great lengths to hide.” Grewal’s order will also allow plaintiffs’ attorneys to view documents regarding how Apple reviews applications for mobile devices — according to a court filing, Apple redacted the information because it is “incredibly sensitive and valuable and is a closely guarded trade secret.” Apple has yet to comment on the order. [via Bloomberg]

Apple’s proposed streaming music service is being held up by the company’s low offer for royalty rates, according to the New York Post. Sources said Apple has offered record labels around 6 cents per 100 songs streamed, about half of what Pandora offers: 12 cents per 100 songs streamed. A December report noted that progress was slow in talks between Apple and record labels, but no further details were given. While the new report notes that labels would love to open up a new revenue stream via Apple, the offer is seen as too low. Some insiders suggest Apple should pay the rate set by the Copyright Royalty Board, which is around 21 cents per 100 songs streamed.

A related report from The New York Times notes that licensing negotiations will likely delay the launch of Apple’s proposed service until the summer. It’s believed that Apple will pre-load an app on iOS devices for the Pandora-style service, which will be supported through iAds.

A recently published Apple patent filing titled “Managing Access to Digital Content Items” reveals details about the possible user-to-user transfer of digital content, such as books, music or movies found in iTunes. The most recent of three patent applications involving such transfers, filed in June, describes a system that would allow one user at a time to access a digital content item. A user who purchases a digital content item can loan the item or resell it, with part of the proceeds from the “resale” going to the original digital publisher or creator. In either case, the digital rights to access the content are also transferred. It’s also possible that the loaned or resold content could be stored remotely, in the cloud, removing the need for a seller or lender to send digital content directly to a buyer. [via Apple Insider]

Apple has won a court ruling over Samsung in the UK over the use of standard essential 3G patents. Judge Christopher Floyd ruled Apple’s products do not infringe Samsung patents that apply to sending and receiving information from devices on a 3G network. While Samsung hopes to claim roughly 2.5 percent royalties on sales of Apple 3G products, each Apple court win makes that claim more unlikely. Samsung expressed disappointment with the result, as a company spokeswoman said it would determine whether an appeal would be filed. Apple declined comment. [via ZDNet]

Apple has asked a federal judge to dismiss a consumer lawsuit regarding an iPhone app monopoly. Filed in 2011, the suit alleges Apple maintains a monopoly because the App Store is the only place to buy iOS apps. “There’s nothing illegal about creating a system that is closed in a sense,” Apple attorney Dan Wall said during a court hearing Tuesday. While the suit claims customers are forced to pay what developers charge for applications at the App Store, Wall argued that Apple doesn’t set prices, and that charging a price for distribution doesn’t violate antitrust laws. [via Bloomberg]

Apple has discussed a potential partnership with Beats Electronics involving Beats’ planned “Project Daisy” music subscription service. According to a report, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Senior Vice President Eddy Cue met with Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine about the service. Held in late February, the meeting covered a variety of music-related topics, and Cook “expressed interest in Daisy’s business model and its rollout plans,” sources said, but he and Iovine “did not discuss specifics of a deal.” Prior reports have indicated that Apple is interested in launching its own streaming radio service, and Iovine recently noted that he had previously discussed a plan with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, possibly in an effort to encourage the company to strike a new deal. Both Apple and Beats declined comment. [via Reuters]

Ferrari is currently talking with Apple about “broadening a partnership on in-car entertainment,” Ferrari Chairman Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo said today at the Geneva Motor Show. Di Montezemolo said Ferrari will be “more precise” about its partnership with Apple in the coming months, according to a Bloomberg report; a related press release from Ferrari notes that the company’s FF model “is also now seamlessly integrated with Apple technologies, thanks to direct access to the infotainment system via Siri voice commands and the adoption of two iPad Minis as the entertainment system of choice for the rear seat passengers.” Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue notably joined Ferrari’s board of directors last year.

Apple’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter contains previously undiscovered video processing hardware, according to developer Panic, which performed a teardown of the accessory after noting video quality issues. In testing output from an application, Panic found that the video resolution was below 1080p, and noted that compression artifacts were showing up on screen. The company discovered an ARM processor inside the adapter, and suggested that Lightning iOS devices are using a protocol similar to AirPlay to encode video before sending it to the accessory for decoding. While the presence of the processor hints at the reason the Digital AV Adapter arrived at a surprisingly high $49 price, the video degradation was a disappointment, particularly considering the prior Dock Connector version’s output capabilities.

Notably, a comment posted by an anonymous Apple employee on Panic’s blog confirmed the findings above, and attempted to explain them. “We didn’t do this to screw the customer,” the commenter said. “We did this to specifically shift the complexity of the ‘adapter’ bit into the adapter itself, leaving the host hardware free of any concerns in regards to what was hanging off the other end of the Lightning cable.” The commenter also noted that the video quality limitations may only be temporary. “Certain people are aware that the quality could be better and others are working on it. For the time being, the quality was deemed to be suitably acceptable… updates **will** be made available as a part of future iOS updates. When this will happen I can’t say for anonymous reasons, but these concerns haven’t gone unnoticed.” [via Panic Blog]

“Apple seeks to introduce [its iWatch] as soon as this year,” according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report follows comments from Corning, Apple’s glass-making partner for iOS devices, that its upcoming flexible Willow glass would likely not be used in any device released in the next three years; if both are accurate, the first-generation product could use a curved screen, but the screen would not be flexible.

Citing a person familiar with the company’s plans, Bloomberg reports that iWatch “features under consideration” include making calls, identifying incoming callers, and checking map coordinates; a pedometer and health sensor for data such as heart rate would also be included. The report notes that Apple “has filed at least 79 patent applications that include the word ‘wrist,’ including one for a device with a flexible screen, powered by kinetic energy,” and that Apple design chief Jony Ive “has long had an interest in watches,” having his team visit watch factories, and ordering boxes of a Nike sports watch in the mid-2000s.

A follow-on report from The Verge claims that Apple has decided to use iOS to power the watch, which has led to “battery life issues in development,” with prototypes running for “a couple days max.” The company reportedly hopes to get the battery “to last at least 4-5 days between charges.”

Apple’s award of $1.05 billion in damages from Samsung was reduced by more than 40 percent by Judge Lucy Koh today, according to a tweet from The Recorder reporter Vanessa Blum. Koh has reportedly ordered a new damages trial on the $440 million removed from the award. Apple was initially awarded the $1.05 billion in August after a jury found Samsung violated Apple patents. [via Apple Insider]

Apple has offered a refund to the family of Danny Kitchen, a British boy who spent £1,700 (about $2,550) of his parents’ money on in-app purchases in an iPad game within 15 minutes. The family believed the boy was downloading “a free game,” and entered a password for the download, which was followed by a collection of huge in-app purchases. Apple recently settled a class action lawsuit regarding freemium apps aimed at children, offering refunds for claims that minors made in-app purchases without parental knowledge or permission. [via BBC]

David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital has withdrawn its lawsuit against Apple over a proxy proposal. The proposal, which aimed to change Apple’s ability to issue preferred stock, was withdrawn from a vote at Apple’s recent shareholder meeting after it was blocked by a court ruling. Despite the lawsuit’s success, Apple CEO Tim Cook referred to it as a “silly sideshow,” and the company suggested that it was based on a misunderstanding regarding Apple’s position on preferred stock. [via AllThingsD]

A lawsuit alleges that Apple collected data from millions of mobile devices without permission, but Apple argued at a Thursday hearing that plaintiffs have failed to prove their claims. The customers have accused Apple of collecting geographical data through apps on mobile devices, even after the users chose not to share the data. The plaintiffs’ attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to designate the suit as a class action, but Apple is seeking to stop the action, claiming that it hasn’t been proven that users actually had information collected by free apps without consent, and therefore can’t show they’ve suffered harm. [via Bloomberg]

Apple screen glass supplier Corning claims that “it will probably take at least three years before companies start making flexible displays using its new Willow material,” according to a report. Corning Glass Technologies president James Clappin said that companies have yet to come up with products that can fully take advantage of Willow glass, which can roll up in a manner similar to newsprint. Recent reports have suggested that Apple could use Willow to create a curved glass display in its rumored iWatch; Apple is said to be experimenting with curved glass designs, but it appears unlikely that Willow will be used in the immediate future. Corning is currently producing Willow glass, and teaching “very big name” customers how to handle it, Clappin said. [via Bloomberg]

Apple announced this morning that iTunes U content downloads have now exceeded one billion. iTunes U features “the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content” from schools and other learning organizations, including lectures, books, assignments, quizzes, and more. Apple claims more than 1,200 universities and colleges and 1,200 K-12 schools and districts now host more than 2,500 public and thousands of private courses on iTunes U. “It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said in a press release. “With the incredible content offered on iTunes U, students can learn like never before―there are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”